 "Photo: The Current")
 "Photo: The Current")
The first thing you notice as you walk through the door is the recording room, just big enough to fit two or three people. Scanning left there's an aged desk, lit by candles despite the sunshine creeping through the windows. The desk is littered with various sheets of paper.
Above the desk and against each wall in the room are bookshelves filled with historical, philosophical, religious and even scientific works.
And, although a thin layer of dust covers the many photos and posters decorating the walls around the bookshelves, the room is humming, eager to share its purpose.
This is Troubadour Studio and Rehearsal in Auburn, owned by Green River alumnus, Philip Lindholm.
"I've been a lot of places and I've never come close to making anything great unless I'm here," he says, appreciatively glancing at the small space around him.
Out of his many travels throughout Europe and the U.S., including schooling at Central Washington University, Oxford of England, Juilliard of New York and the L'École Normale Supérieure of Paris, this small space is what he keeps coming back to - where he feels most attuned.
Living in Auburn at the time, Lindholm started as a Running Start student in 1997. It was here at Green River, after taking Dr. John Fox's comparative religion class, that his interest in theology and philosophy was ignited.
Fox opened Lindholm's eyes to a future that was true to who he was.
It all came together when, still a business major at the time, he sat down to watch a marathon about Jesus Christ on the History Channel.
"I was in my pajamas, eating Doritos for, like, sixteen hours, and I thought… I'm in the entirely wrong field," he recalls, chuckling at his then-epiphany for something that is now so obvious.
It was then that Lindholm chose to leave behind the value of "marketability" that others had defined as success to pursue theology and philosophy.
Alongside religion, he has found comfort in music. He wasn't tempted to join the band kids in middle school, but he did feel at home while spending his time between classes in one of the many practice rooms at Green River.
"Room, piano, nothing else. You could just go in there, close the door, and nobody would bother you. They just assumed you belonged."
After completing his Associate in Arts Degree at Green River, Lindholm transferred to Central, where he earned high honors and his bachelor's in philosophy. While there, he also created his own degree of "philology and exegesis," which is the critical analysis of ancient theological text and language.
He then moved on to Oxford for graduate work, where he completed three master's in Christian studies, Jewish studies and Islamic studies, as well as a doctorate in philosophical theology.
"For me, they're all interrelated. They're how we as people approach the world, why we believe we're here, and what the purpose of it is," Lindholm says, reflectively.
"They just have different answers."
Over time, he found himself in search of the kind of diversity that he'd become so accustomed to while at Green River.
He decided to head for New York to study documentary filmmaking, acting and music, all while supposed to be working on his dissertation through Oxford.
New York was also where he had the opportunity to study under the famous documenter, Alex Maysels, and later become an employee of the BBC.
Among acting, producing, directing and writing for the BBC, he is best known for playing the lead role in "Who Murdered Warren Taylor," an interactive murder mystery about the death of a soccer player, in 2005. But it was his time spent with Maysels that he cherished most.
His first encounter with Maysels was welcoming to say the least. After they introduced themselves to each other, he gently took Lindholm's hand into his own, looked him straight in the eye, and, with a sincere and serious look on his face, said, "Bless you," in a way that reminded Lindholm of his own grandfather.
In the end, though, no matter how inspiring and rewarding his travels were, Lindholm still found himself gravitating back to Washington.
When it comes to his many interests – documentary filmmaking, music, philosophy, religion and writing – they all amount to the same thing in his mind. They're all art.
"You can do things with a camera that you can't do with a book, you can do things with a pen that the voice can't touch... my interest is seeing what I can do with all of those."
Lindholm is currently in the finishing stages of recording his first solo record, "The Open Road," and publishing his first book, "Latter-day Dissent."
"The Open Road," which he describes as "rock and roll," is the result of seven countries' worth of traveling, playing and writing whenever – or wherever – the muse came upon him.
His book, anticipated to be released this year, analyzes the members of "September Six," a group of Mormons who were all excommunicated within the same year. He attended their 10-year reunion to interview them about their experiences.
Along the many roads he has traveled, Lindholm has realized that where he is now - in his studio - is where he is happiest. He redefined the path for success to suit him and found a place for his many expressive threads.
He spent a lot of time trying to complete the steps that he thought were necessary for his success. But he now knows that the best way to do anything is to stop worrying, and start living.
"What I've learned is that the really successful people in any field… are those people who often don't follow the status quo - those who challenge themselves to change that field, not become a part of it."
From the modest Green River to the prestigious Oxford, Lindholm has achieved something that most others only dream of: becoming successful without giving up on the things one loves – without sacrifice.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!